Pioneering Past and Bright of Impactful Research and Scholarly Achievements

“EXCELLENCE THROUGH KNOWLEDGE” P A G E 93 a country are enabled to make maximum contribution to the country’s economic progress. The main objective of this paper is to explore the relationship, if any, that exists between education, economic growth and economic development in post-independence Jamaica. To this end, the general relationship is explored and an overview of education and the education system in Jamaica was undertaken to identify the structure of the education system and to draw inferences on its role in economic growth. In addition to this, the country’s economic performance over the study period was considered. Amixedmethodapproachwas taken in this study. Education sector plans, programmes and reports as well as economic development plans and reports were collated and reviewed. Quantitative data on indicators of educational and economic growth were also used. Emphasis was placed on the secondary and tertiary levels of the education system as one of the main aims at these levels is to provide the type and quality of labour to support production. The findings from the qualitative review and the quantitative data were then analyzed to identify trends in growth and any discernible pattern of relationship between the variables over the study period. The study reveals that while access to education is essential for improvement in the nation’s human capital investment, educational development is not sufficient to realize the sustained economic growth that is required for economic development. Editor’s Note: This research was published in full in the Journal of Arts, Science, and Technology (JAST), Vol.8, 2015.